Help me build a basic cookbook 'library' for my sister please

[Earlybird]

My sister is not much of a cook (neither am I, for that matter). She has recently expressed an interest in learning to cook more/better.

I've had the idea to give her a basic 'cookbook library' for her birthday/Christmas, and thought it might be a good start to get her one book from each of the following:

Nigel Slater
Delia Smith
Jamie Oliver
Nigella
Others?

If you were going to choose one from each as an introduction/overview for a novice cook, which would it be?

Any different/better ideas? Thanks for suggestions.

As well as recipes though, she needs to start to understand about food - once you do, then making your own recipes up becomes easy.

Definitely agree with the suggestion about Delia's Complete Cookery course. No matter how adventurous my meals are, this is the book I return to time and time again - in fact I'm going to have to replace it because it is falling apart!

From the point of view of learning about food I would definitely agree with the suggestions about Nigella (especially her How to Eat) and Nigel Slater - anything by him I think.

The Sainsbury magazine is also a really good source of info as well as great recipes, also Good Housekeeping magazine.

And if she's got cable, UKTV Food is brilliant - especially Great Food Live, which is on every day at lunchtime (and, I think, repeated in the evening)

If you can, get the books in hardback, even if that means you buy fewer books. Hardbacks are far more practical than paperbacks. Paper sleeves and/or bookmark ribbons are also useful.

Delia's complete cookery course (the older, single volume one, rather than the more recent 3-volume one) is one of my basic reference books. I also love my Good Housekeeping one as it has an excellent colour photo of each recipe - none of the poncey super-close-up nonsense.

I used this Good Housekeeping book when I first left home. It has pictures of how to do each step of the recipie which is fab for a new/nervous cook. There are newer versions of it out now, and there is also a vegetarian step-by-step version.

For indian cooking Anjum Anand is very good. I recommend Indian Every Day from personal experience, but she also has one call Indian Food Made Easy that might be good. She uses home-made spice paste as a base for most of her recipes and I use Patak's paste rather than making my own to save time and effort.

Definitely hardbacks - far more durable and easier to use as the pages are more likely to stay open when you're following a recipe.

Try The Book People for some cheap but identical-to-full-price editions.

Has anyone suggested the Be-Ro baking book?
Fabulous for basics like scones and Victoria sponge - much better than Nigella for the new or nervous cook.
The Dairy Cookbook is pretty well loved in our hosue too, but is the same kind of deal as the GH ones.